Remagen

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Remagen is a city in Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one hour's drive from Cologne (Köln), just south of Bonn, the former West-German capital. It is situated on the River Rhine, which is constantly busy with ships. There is a ferry across the Rhine from Remagen every 10-15 minutes in the summer. Remagen has many beautiful and well-maintained buildings, churches, castles, and monuments. It also has a sizeable pedestrian zone with plenty of shops.

Overlooking the west bank of the Rhine just north of the city centre is the Apollinariskirche. It has a great observation deck that is only open to parishioners on Sundays. Pedestrians reach the church via a dirt trail that passes a series of roadside monuments representing each of the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The church grounds contain an outdoor crypt and an abbey. Further down the river is one of the many castles along the River Rhine, perched even higher than the Apollinariskirche.

1 History
2 External links

[edit] History

The Roman Empire built a border fort at Rigomagus (or Ricomagus), west of the Rhine. This was about 12 miles north of the site of the first bridge ever built across the Rhine (at Neuwied). This bridge fought the river current by being built on timbers which were driven into the bed at a slant. Caesar's troops spent nearly three weeks on the east side of the river, then crossed back over, destroying the bridge to prevent its use by German raiders. A second bridge was likewise destroyed by the builders once they were through with it.

The fort was one of a series built by Drusus, commander of the Roman army along the Rhine. Other Roman construction survived the centuries, including a gateway, and Remagen became a tourist destination, popular with history buffs.

Local legend says that a ship carrying various relics from Milan to Cologne was stopped in the river in 1164, unable to move despite the strong current, until it mysteriously edged in toward the shore. The remains of St Apollinaris were put ashore, and the ship was then able to sail onward. These remains were interred in a chapel which had been part of the Roman fort, which became the basis for a church which bore his name, and was rebuilt several times over the years.

[edit] The Bridge at Remagen

The Ludendorff Bridge was originally built during the First World War as a means of moving troops and logistics west over the Rhine to reinforce the Western Front. The bridge was designed by Karl Wiener, an architect from Mannheim. It was 325 meters long, had a clearance of 14.80 meters above the normal water level of the Rhine, and its highest point measured 29.25 meters. The bridge carried two rail lines and a pedestrian walkway. During the Second World War, one rail line was planked over to allow vehicular traffic.

[edit] The capture of the bridge

The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen—the last standing span over the Rhine—was captured by American soldiers of the U.S. 9th Armored Division on 7 March 1945, during Operation Lumberjack.

On 7 March 1945, men of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, led by Lieutenant Karl H. Timmermann approached the bridge to find it still standing. From U.S. Airforce Oral History Interview K239.0512-1648 of Helmut A. Kuerschner by Dr. James C. Hasdorff : ..."in March 1945, the U.S. Army crossed the Rhine River at Remagen. That's the famous bridge which was intentionally not destroyed by the German military. As a matter of fact, as it has been documented, they disobeyed orders to destroy it because they knew it was senseless". The first soldier across the bridge was Sergeant Alex Drabik; Timmermann was the first officer across.

The capture of the bridge is referred to in U.S. histories as the "Miracle of Remagen". General Eisenhower stated that "the bridge is worth its weight in gold". A small number of U.S. formations were able to operate east of the Rhine in advance of the main crossings to the south under Patton and Bradley, and to the north under Montgomery (Operation Plunder.) The strategic importance of the bridge has been debated by historians since its capture.^{[citation needed]} However, the psychological advantage of having crossed the Rhine in force, and in pursuit of fleeing Wehrmacht troops, bolstered the morale of the Allied forces while having a disastrous effect on the Germans.

In the days immediately following the bridge's capture, the German High Command made desperate attempts to destroy the bridge by bombing and even employing frogmen. Hitler ordered "flying" courts-martial which condemned five officers to death, one in absentia, and four of whom were executed in the Westerwald Forest. Attempts were made to repair the damage to the bridge, and pontoon bridges were laid alongside. Despite the best efforts of U.S. engineers, on 17 March 1945 the bridge collapsed, killing twenty-eight American soldiers. However, due to the pontoon bridges and the secure crossing point, the loss of the bridge was neither tactically nor strategically significant.

[edit] The bridge in the media

The best-known work on the battle is 1957's The Bridge at Remagen by the American author Ken Hechler.

In 1968 David L. Wolper produced an American motion picture, "The Bridge at Remagen". The film depicted actual historical background, but was fictional in all other aspects.

In addition, a large number of books and articles in newspapers and magazines on the subject of the bridge have been published.

In the 1946 Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life, there is a brief battle scene with narration that "Ernie Bishop, the cab driver, helped capture the Remagen bridge."

In the video game Panzer Front for the Playstation, the Ludendorff bridge is assaulted by the player demonstrating the strategic problems of capturing the bridge (the placing of 88mm AT/AA guns on the high ground surrounding the bridge, for example).

In the video game Call of Duty: Finest Hour the player helps to liberate the Ludendorff Bridge in one level. Remagen also appears in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (dm3).

In the booster pack of Battlefield 2142, Northern Strike, a map is dedicated to the Bridge at Remagen. The battle takes place 200 years after the real battle.

[edit] Memorial

Hans Peter Kürten, at that time Mayor of Remagen, had long considered the idea of constructing a memorial. The negotiations with the German Federal Railway alone lasted seven years before the city could finally acquire the former railroad property. Announcements sent to government officials concerning the intended preservation of the bridge towers and the construction of a Memorial to Peace stirred no interest.

In the summer of 1976, it was necessary to remove the still intact bridge support pilings in the river. The Mayor had the stones deposited on the Remagen river bank, with the idea in mind of selling small pieces of the bridge stones enclosed in synthetic resin and containing a certificate ot authenticity.

On 7 March 1978, he went public with his idea and achieved such an unexpected degree of success, that he had realised more than 100,000 DM (around 50,000 EUR) in sales profits.

There has not been another bridge built across the Rhine here, mainly due to opposition from the people of Remagen (and surrounding areas), contending that a bridge located at this point along the Rhine would spoil the view.